'Young guns have potential aplenty'

By Kamesh Srinivasan

NEW DELHI, AUG. 20. It may be a happy hunting ground for medals, but the Commonwealth Shooting Championship is utilised for blooding youth by the Indian camp.

The fourth edition in Bisley will witness some of the young names trying to scale the international ladder, as much as the exhibition of their class by the proven stars who will be out to re-establish their credentials all over again.

The national coach Prof. Sunny Thomas emphasised the youth factor and said that the future augured well for the sport in the country, with a lot of youngsters showing considerable potential.

``We have added some new names. The younger generation is doing well. We can't deny the fact that the centre-fire pistol team was better earlier. Of course, Jaspal Rana is there, and the other two are capable of shooting more than 580,'' said Prof. Thomas, as he briskly jogged through the list of 34 shooters.

The teenagers Raj Kumari and Meena Kumari came for praise, especially the former for her ability to score well in air rifle, apart from the prone and 3-position events. With Anjali Vedpathak, Anuja Tere and Kuheli Gangulee around, it will be difficult for these younger shooters to stake their claim in the team, but the good thing would be that all three entrants in each event would get to shoot during the pairs and individual events. The third shooter during the pair event, will be eligible for the badge.

``Sameer Ambekar is another youngster who is doing well in air rifle. In some events it is indeed a difficult choice to make in nominating the two for the team event,'' said Prof. Thomas.

The good thing has been that some shooters have started showing signs of making it big in events which have not been the strong point for the Indians at the international level.

``Ronak Pandit is coming up in rapidfire. He may not have achieved a really high standard, but he should measure up to the demands of this championship. He was probably shocked to be included in the squad, but we believed that he needed the exposure, even as the third member behind Mukesh Kumar and Poonam Kumar in this event, in which we want him to specialise despite his ability to do well in air pistol as well,'' said the national coach, about the 16-year-old son of Ashok Pandit, who was himself a shooter of considerable expertise in the recent past.

The absence of Neeraj Kumar who did well in the recent, `Meet of the Shooting Hopes,' in Plzen, Czech Republic, was argued with conviction by Prof. Thomas, who stressed that the boy in question had been given chances straightaway in the two World Cups in Milan and Munich, which was perhaps instrumental in building his confidence for the Czech meet. And that he needed a break to come back strongly once again.

``Neeraj should be there in the future teams. Satguru Das of the Navy is doing very well in prone. He even came up with a 599 during training in Bangalore,'' said the national coach, as he talked about another impressive shooter in the same breath.

Though he was highlighting the point that the Commonwealth Championship was the ideal arena to put the youngsters to test, Prof. Thomas was quick to assert that the meet was no `mickey- mouse' competition, with all the countries using it as a preparatory event for the more serious competitions like the World Cups, World Championship and the Commonwealth Games.

Possible surprise package

The 21-year-old Shilpi Singh could be the surprise package in the air pistol event, though her form fluctuates often. She has been around for some time, and may live up to her Arjuna award in the near future, having managed to bag the silver and bronze medals in the last two Commonwealth meets in Langkawi and Auckland respectively.

``Shilpi is training systematically. At times she loses her concentration. Since she is shooting one event, she should be able to produce the results with decent scores,'' said Prof. Thomas. Shilpi had actually finished tenth in the World Cup in Milan recently, though she was not able to build on that effort the following week in Munich. Maybe Bisley will provide her a fine chance.

Abhinav Bindra could not be missed in the discussion about the juniors, though he has already established his position as one of the best in the world in air rifle.

The coach said that he was upset with the clash of dates of the Commonwealth meet with the World Cup finals, which denied the young shooter time for proper preparation. The shooter in question has of course been handling the challenge diligently, and building himself patiently with yoga and meditation as the recent additions to his arsenal.

``Abhinav is training hard back home in Chandigarh for the two competitions which are equally important from our point of view,'' said the national coach, as he assessed the preparations on the eve of the team's departure.

The Indian team has been scheduled to leave in the early hours of Tuesday. With the problem of the pistols being sent in advance having been sorted out, the shooters will carry their weapons and follow the usual procedure of clearance in London.

The ammunitions, however, are still being sorted out, as it has been a difficult exercise, separating the chaff from the wheat.

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